In both our real world and our pretend travels we have always been in love with the Mediterranean Sea. Gentle, rolling and blue; it was the first sign of Europe that Mark saw from the plane window when he was 8 years old and the location of Homer’s ancient epic – the Odyssey, which is so close to my heart.
What we have realised with our pretend travels is just how varied the culture of the Mediterranean is, as it spans three continents! But also despite this, how closely connected the countries are, after thousands of years of trade, friendship and war. This blog post covers our pretend Mediterranean travels so far.
Spain
Spain is so culturally rich and Penny has been studying Spanish at school, so it made sense that we made an early pretend visit here. We did some fun language worksheets, played football, cooked Paella, went to an amazing Tapas restaurant and watched Coco (which I know is Mexican – but there is lots of Spanish heritage in it!) and we also listened to the movie sound track in Spanish! You can find out more about our ideas here.
France
France is one of our absolute favourite pretend visits! We have actually been there twice so you can read all about it here and here! I have so many favourite moments; from painting masterpieces in the garden, to baking french bread, to visiting an art gallery and watching Beauty and the Beast. France is a definite winner with kids and don’t even get me started on the wine and cheese for the grown ups!
Italy
Italy is a great location for a pretend visit with small kids because whether you eat out, order in, or make your own – Italian food almost always goes down well! It’s also a great one for a day out, as you can find your local Roman remains and take a visit to see them. There are Roman sites all over Britain and whether yours are big or small – they make for a great adventure. We are super lucky as we live near a Roman town called Chester which has the baths and Amphitheatre you can wander round for free – even in lockdown. Read about our adventure here.
Greece
Greece is my favourite place in the world and we timed this visit with Greek week at Lidl so the food was easy to find and really delicious. I have so many ideas for Greece – we raced boats in the paddling pool Aegean Sea, read Greek myths, dressed as gods, learned the Greek alphabet and visited our local beach as our Greek day was suitably hot. Greece was the perfect mix of relaxation, fun and education and Penny read her Greek myths for weeks afterwards. Read all about our visit here.
Turkey
Turkey to me is a magical place; not just because of its association with stories I love about the Trojan war but also because for me; it is truly where the West meets the East. When we had visited as a family, we had also fallen in love with the food and so we had a wonderful day feasting on Turkish Delight, Turkish apple tea and visiting our local Turkish restaurant (which also does takeaway). We also had a beach visit, wove some dolls house carpets and we even took Freddie to a Turkish barber. If you are missing your holiday to Turkey read all about our recreation here.
Egypt
One of the major things I’ve noticed on our visits are how surrounded we are by other cultures and it was only when planning this visit that I found out that the World Museum in Liverpool has the second largest collection of Egyptian Artefacts in the country. We also cooked Egyptian food, played at being mummies and learning hieroglyphics. Penny discovered a new heroine in her rebel girls book in the form of Cleopatra who she loved dressing up as. Read all about it here.
Morocco
And finally to Morocco – full circle I suppose, as in reality it’s only half an hour on a boat from Spain. We were very lucky to have this amazing restaurant in Liverpool to visit, which also does takeout. I also came up with the idea of decorating plastic glasses with sharpies and stick on jewels to mimic the beautiful ones we saw in Morocco. We also cooked our own couscous which is so easy the kids can make it themselves and we made mint tea from mint leaves from our garden (and lots of sugar). We watched Aladdin too – it’s not Moroccan at all but if Disney can get away with it – so can we! Read up on our visit here.
